At the onset of this project, 1985, our goals were to assess campus-wide networking requirements for NIH, study available technology and recommend appropriate designs to meet the requirements. We have identified applications including data transmission for image processing and molecular graphics, intercommunication among local area networks and mainframe- to-microcomputer interconnection. From our studies we have arrived at a concept design and technical specifications for a high-speed campus-wide network backbone, and now our refined goal is to implement this backbone. The Division of Engineering Services is a cooperative member in this project and they have let a contract to begin the backbone implementation in the fourth quarter of FY87.